The use of the WWW (World Wide Web), which is also referred to as the Internet, makes it possible to set up a data connection to a web server or Internet Information Server (IIS) from any computer which has access to the Internet. The access to an Internet Server is made, for example, using known Internet browsers, for example Internet Explorer from Microsoft or the Internet browser from Netscape. When a data connection is set up from a web client, a request is output to an Internet Server by inputting and dispatching a URL address. When a data connection comes about, the called Internet server responds with a HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) page. The WWW clients, for example Netscape or Internet Explorer, communicate with the WWW servers via the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). Each data connection between the WWW client and WWW server is thus based on a request protocol, and a response protocol in reaction thereto.
DE-A-198 08 616 discloses a method for the remote control of equipment by means of a computer which is located geographically remotely therefrom, and for transmitting current information from the equipment to the computer over the Internet, a bidirectional information channel for mutual exchange of data being connected between the computer and the equipment.